Details about bids to host the 12th International Congress of Plant Pathology, 2023

Bidding is now closed and an announcement of the successful Society bid to host ICPP2023 will be made before the end of 2016.

Selection process:

Selection among bids is made by ballot of ISPP Councillors, representing Associated Societies, later in 2016. (the intention is that the ballot should be complete by the end of 2016!)

The Business Manager can provide further guidance on the presentation of bids. Bids should meet the following criteria:

1) Bids must come from an ISPP Associated Society (national or regional) or combination of societies and not from a city or convention bureau.  It is recommended that the society or societies making a bid should consider working with a local convention bureau to help identify and advertise the unique features of their country that will interest the delegates.

2) The financial obligations of hosting an International Congress of Plant Pathology are the responsibility of the host society (or societies).  ISPP does not underwrite the financing of the Congress.

3) The society (or societies) hosting the Congress is responsible for organizing the program and therefore should be sufficiently large to provide leadership in the major sections of plant pathology.  The program of a past Congress should be consulted as a guide.  After consultation with the ISPP Executive, inputs from ISPP Subject Matter Committees and the ISPP Taskforce for Global Food Security should be sought. The theme of the congress should be reflective of the broad coverage of the science of plant pathology (i.e. not just focused on food security but also covering forests, natural ecosystem protection etc.).  

In consultation with the ISPP Executive, the format of previous Congresses should be followed. Previous Congresses have included oral presentations of Keynote, evening workshops and 7-10 Concurrent Session Papers, and poster presentations of Offered Papers. The potential Congress venue should provide up-to-date facilities for these requirements.

4) The site (city and hotels/campus) should normally be able to accommodate more than 2000 delegates and provide meeting rooms for 7 to 10 concurrent sessions, as well as numerous small meeting rooms.  The venue (or venues) should also allow easy access to venues for evening meetings. The site should preferably offer a variety of amenities with a range of costs.  Ideally, a university campus should be near-by to provide low-cost accommodations for those unable to afford more expensive hotels and meals.

5) The host city must be easily accessible by international airlines and offer a variety of cultural and tourist attractions.  One day of the Congress may be scheduled for tours of local attractions.

6) Consideration should be given to strategies for enabling attendance of delegates from developing countries.

Additional points to consider

Recent Congresses (ICPP2003, ICPP2008, ICPP2013) and the Congress, to be held in Boston USA in 2018, have several aspects in common, and bidding societies are urged to consider these points in preparing their bid. Societies intending to bid for ICPP2023 can contact the ISPP Business manager for information concerning previous bid documents.

The successful bid will be selected by a vote of ISPP Councillors, representing the Associated Societies of ISPP. Among the issues they are likely to consider are: (i) the technical aspects of the bid and the appeal of its presentation, (ii) the capability and experience of the host society for organising a good Congress, (iii) the anticipated costs of attendance, (iv) support for and visa access for delegates from developing countries and (v) other (tourist) attractions in visiting the country or destination proposed.

Congress Committee

Under ISPP Rules of Procedure the Congress is organized by a Congress Committee, one of whose members is appointed as a Vice-President of ISPP and has special responsibility for liaison between the Congress Committee and ISPP Executive. The general plan of the Congress must be submitted to ISPP's Executive Committee for approval.

A range of groups and committees are usually convened (see the ICPP2008 brochure for examples) to co-ordinate local and international planning of the Congress.

Finances

Under ISPP Rules of Procedure the Congress Committee, not the ISPP, is financially responsible for the Congress.

Sample budgets of past Congresses are available to provide potential bidders with an idea of the types of items and costs that need to be included in the budget. The organisers should budget to cover all costs, and this is likely to require significant income from sponsorship. A Bursary Fund is normally sponsored, to assist attendance from developing countries. Organisers are required to insure against liabilities associated with organising the event. Organisers should generally expect invited speakers to cover their own costs since selection as one of 200 + invited speakers is in itself an honour. They might also expect or arrange that at least some keynote and plenary speakers contribute to their costs of attendance. The participation of developing country invitees as keynote or plenary speakers is particularly encouraged and may require full financial support from the Congress or sponsors.

The Congress will be required to cover participation of the Jakob Eriksson Medal awardee (fares, accommodation, registration) and the Glenn Anderson Lecturer (registration,) and provide complementary registration and booths in the Congress Trade display area for the ISPP and the publisher of the ISPP Journal, Springer.

Scientific Program

The scientific program should ideally reflect the breadth of international progress in applied and basic plant pathology The detailed program developed by the organisation which is commissioned to organise ICPP2023 should be developed in consultation After consultation with the ISPP Executive, inputs from ISPP Subject Matter Committees and organizers (as well as the Taskforce for Global Food Security) should be sought, (with complementary involvement of the organizing Society's own nominees/subject specialists) The ISPP Executive will also advise closely in the planning and selection stages of the Scientific Program Committee, to ensure that the Committee and program are reflective of the diversity of membership and interests of ISPP Associated Societies. The Congress is an opportunity for an international audience to hear presentations from global specialists, and it is important that the program distinguish itself from the meetings of regional or national societies through diversity in choice of speakers and topics.

In close consultation with the ISPP Executive, planning of the scientific program by the ICPP2023 committee should be initiated early. Submission of a bid indicates affirmation by the bidding society that they will adhere to the following timetable:

Review of recent congress programs (ICPP2008, ICPP2013, ICPP2018) during 2018-2019.

Drafting of scientific program outline 2018-2019.

Agreement on program outline between ICPP2023 committee and ISPP Executive (draft topics and proposed chairs for plenaries, keynotes and most concurrent sessions) by October 2020.

Contact with proposed session chairs and detailed development of speaker programs during 2020-2021.

Issue of invited speaker preliminary invitations by ICPP2023 committee to finalise draft speaker program by October 2021.

Call for abstracts for poster presentations by August 2022. Close for submission of poster presentations by December 2022.

The planning timeline is designed to ensure that most invited speakers have been confirmed by August 2021. This is to allow the large number of invited speakers ample time to make arrangements for participation in the congress (The ICPP organisers are not required to fund the participation of invited speakers or chairs of concurrent sessions or congress associated workshops)

In recent Congresses, Subject Matter Committees have also played a significant role in devising programs of technical sessions and workshops. It is also especially appropriate to involve scientists from the developing world in development of the program as this is one way of ensuring such programmes have international interest. Subject Matter Committees and other interest groups should be encouraged to plan any ICPP2023 associated event well in advance.

Publication of Congress Abstracts in a special issue of the Societies Journal might be appropriate (As was the case for ICPP2008 and ICPP2013

The ISPP Executive and the Editor in Chief of the ISPP journal, Food Security, should be consulted in relation to opportunities to publish plenary session papers in the ISPP journal.

Special sessions

A feature of some recent Congresses has been a public session organized by the ISPP Task Force on Global Food Security on a theme related to plant pathology and global food security. This Session includes the Glenn Anderson Lecture which is subsequently published by the lecture sponsors, the Canadian Phytopathological Society.

Provision also needs to be made for the presentation ceremony for the Jakob Eriksson Prize and Oration.

ISPP will also provide some support for the participation of the Glenn Anderson Lecturer and the Eriksson Prize recipient. The Canadian Phytopathological Society is involved in the selection and support for participation of the Glenn Anderson Lecturer.

Provision should also be made for the following ISPP meetings during the Congress:

a General Assembly (the order of 2000 persons) (constituted by opening and closing ceremonies and plenary sessions)

a Council (the order of 100-200 persons)

a meeting of the Taskforce for Food Security

several Executive Committee (EC) sessions (about 10 persons each)

Editorial Board meeting for the ISPP Journal, Food Security

Complimentary display booths for ISPP and for Springer, the publisher of the ISPP journal, Food Security (and including other booth benefits such as complimentary registrations, staff access, standard furniture).

For the functions of these meetings, see the ISPP website at http://www.isppweb.org/about_objectives_statutes.asp.

Concurrence with national or regional conferences 

It may be appropriate for the host society to hold their regular national or regional conference concurrently with the Congress.

Abstracts of presentations

Ideally these should be prepared in a form that can initially be accessed from an ICPP2023 site, and later accessed (in PDF or similar format) from the ISPP website.

Associated Workshops

The Subject Matter Committees of ISPP, and other groups, may want to organise evening workshops or pre- or post-Congress meetings.  The Congress Committee should facilitate the evening events through provision of meeting rooms over two evenings, co-ordinating scheduling, and ensuring that organisers meet deadlines. An additional registration has usually been charged for pre- and post-congress meetings, but not evening meetings.

Social Program and Technical tours

A program of social activities including a welcoming reception and congress dinner should be included in the program. Organisers may also want to include a range of technical and sight-seeing tours as pre-or post-congress activities.

Cost of registration

Every effort should be made to contain the costs of registration, with special consideration given to students, retired members, and participants from developing countries. The latter could also be supported through the Bursary Fund (see above).

Accommodation

A range of options should be provided from 4 or 5 star hotel, to budget hotel, to university dormitory within walking distance of the Congress venue or via shuttle bus or taxi.

Support for developing country participants

Host societies should consider strategies to boost attendance from developing, including the Bursary Fund mentioned above.

ISPP support

ISPP may be able to provide limited start-up funding as a refundable loan.

The Congress Committee member who is a Vice-President of ISPP should ensure good liaison with ISPP throughout the planning of the Congress.

Use of Congress surplus

Host society bids should also indicate that, in addition to repaying any funds advanced by ISPP, a portion of any surplus be returned to ISPP for activities that benefit all member societies and/or promote international plant pathology. It is recommended that the ISPP should receive $30,000 + 10% of any additional net surplus within 6 months of the end of the congress (These funds are used by ISPP to help defray costs associated with planning and liaison on subsequent congresses)

ISPP Rules of Procedure covering Congress Organisation:

Congress organisers should also note the following Rules of Procedure as agreed by the ISPP Council.

Rule 15:Congresses shall be open to all persons after payment of Congress fees.

Rule 16:  Each Congress shall be organized by a Congress Committee appointed by the Member Society(ies) and or Nominating Body(ies) sponsoring the Congress. The Congress Committee shall consist of a Chair, a Secretary, a Treasurer, and at least six other persons, or be composed in other ways approved by the Council. One Vice-President of the ISPP shall be a member of the Congress Committee with special responsibility for liaison between the Congress Committee and the Executive Committee.  The members of the Congress Committee shall be appointed, if possible, within one year after the end of the preceding Congress and shall serve until completion of their duties in connection with the Congress for which they are responsible.

Rule 17:The general plan of the Congress shall be submitted to the Executive Committee for approval and shall be sent to the Council members and Committee Chairs for their information.

Rule 18: The Congress Committee appointed by the Member Society(ies) hosting the Congress, not the ISPP, shall be financially responsible for the Congress that it organizes.